Column: Full-Circle Moment Awaits Jake Timm In First Dairyland Showdown As An Outlaw

Column By: SPENCE SMITHBACK / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – FOUNTAIN CITY, WI – It wasn’t long ago when Jake Timm spent his summers off from high school mowing the grass at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, dreaming of wheeling something with about 800 more horsepower around the track.

At that point, the Fountain City, WI facility was unknown to most outside the region, and the Timm family bought it to save it from closing. Fast forward a few years, and the track’s outlook is brighter than ever.

Mississippi Thunder is now home to a plethora of marquee events, highlighted by this weekend’s $75,000-to-win Dairyland Showdown for the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.

“With our family owning it and being associated with it for so long, I saw where it was when they got it,” Timm said. “The track was shut down; somebody had bought it and opened it for a year or two and then they were going to shut it down again. Dad took it over, and to see what it’s become, all the work he’s put in that didn’t really pay off for a long time. To see a race like this, and then the World of Outlaws [NOS Energy Drink] Sprint Cars coming later, the $100,000 Modified race. What it’s turned into, what it’s become, seeing all his hard work finally pay off, Tyrone [Lingenfelter] and everybody involved with it. It’s really cool to see.”

While Timm has driven everything from a lawn mower to a Super Late Model around Mississippi Thunder, he’s turned more laps in a Modified than any other chariot. The Winona, MN native competed in the division every Friday night for several seasons before hitting the road with the United States Modified Touring Series, which he won with at Mississippi Thunder in 2022.

Of course, Timm also knows how to win in a Late Model – he took the checkers four times in Fountain City with the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour and nearly won a World of Outlaws preliminary Feature at the 2023 Dairyland Showdown before crashing out on the final lap.

Even though he’s been successful in both, Timm said the similarities are nearly non-existent, particularly around the high banks of Mississippi Thunder.

“The two cars just drive so different,” Timm said. “The Modified, I feel like you’ve got to drive it a lot straighter most of the time. In the Late Model, there’s times when you want to drive it straighter yet, but there’s a lot more times when you’ve got to bend in and wheelspin a lot more. It just brings a whole new set of challenges. And then also, everybody in a Late Model just races so much harder. Not that Modified guys aren’t good racers or don’t race hard, but these guys, they’re on their toes. If you make one little mistake, they’re going to eat you up.”

The massive payday on Saturday night isn’t the only reason the Dairyland Showdown has taken on a new meaning in 2025 for Timm. He’s always been one of the regional stars who circled the event on their calendars as their chance to take on the World of Outlaws when they came to town. Now, he is an Outlaw.

When Timm signed up to chase the MD3 Rookie of the Year Award, he knew he was in for the biggest challenge of his racing career. With 11 races in the books, the No. 49 team have fought through their share of struggles but remain optimistic that improvements are on the horizon.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Timm said. “These guys are the best in the business and the best race car drivers in the world, so we knew what we were up against. The biggest thing is just staying positive, keep pushing forward to try and get better and make progress. It’s hard to stay positive when you’re getting your butt kicked every night. But I think as of late, we’ve definitely been starting to make a little bit of progress.”

As if battling the best Late Model drivers in the country every weekend wasn’t hard enough, Timm has been doing so with a blank notebook and zero experience at the track prior to Hot Laps.

“We still haven’t been to a track this year that we’ve been to before, so everything’s been new to us,” Timm said. “The biggest thing is asking for help from the people at Longhorn or just other resources we have that are willing to give us some advice as far as setting the car up and things like that. As far as driving it, the biggest thing is just knowing where to be, how the track races and what to expect at different points of the night behind the wheel. There’s no substitute for that kind of experience.”

With the summer portion of the World of Outlaws calendar containing several Midwestern tracks Timm has experience at, he’s confident that the toughest stretch of the year is behind him. He knows his goal of being a regular contender at the front of World of Outlaws races is within reach, and he’s excited to take a big step in that direction this weekend.

“Just looking forward to this weekend for a lot of different reasons,” Timm said. “It’s going to be nice to race at home in front of our own fans and people we know. Going from tracks that I’m not familiar with at all to the track I’m most familiar with is hopefully going to make a big difference in how I perform and our results. After this, there’s a lot more tracks on the schedule that we’ve been to before like Deer Creek [Speedway], Cedar Lake [Speedway], so I’m just excited.”

The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season resumes this weekend at Mississippi Thunder Speedway with the Dairyland Showdown, Thursday-Saturday, May 1-3. Tickets will be available at the gate.